NWRA supports proposed regulation to clarify joint-employer standard

The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, filed comments with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Nov. 28 in support of its proposed regulation to establish a standard for determinations of joint-employer status.

“We appreciate NLRB’s recognition that the current situation lacks the clarity and consistency that businesses require in order to comply. Safety is the top concern for NWRA and our members. We want every single member of our industry to make it home each day safely, free from injury or fatality. We believe that a clear delineation of employer responsibility as the NLRB proposes in this new rule will help ensure a safe workplace, whereas a blanket assumption of joint-employer status can result in confusing and conflicting directives that make employees less, not more, safe,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith says.

Under the NLRB’s proposed regulation, an employer may be considered a joint-employer of a separate employer's employees only if the two employers share or codetermine the employees' essential terms and conditions of employment, such as hiring, firing, discipline, supervision and direction; and an employer must possess and actually exercise substantial direct and immediate control over the essential terms and conditions of employment of another employer's employees in a manner that is not limited and routine.